Fairbanks–The Longest Day

Camp Walmart & The Summer Solstice , Fairbanks, AK – June 19 – 21, 2014

The rising water at our MM38.2 boondocking spot on Chena Hot Springs Road began to concern us. It had rained all day yesterday and was continuing to rain today. The North Fork of the Chena River rose about 3 foot overnight and rose another 6 – 8 inches while we were preparing to leave.

We were concerned that with all of the debris that was being swept downstream it would jam under one of the bridges causing the river to immediately backup.

There used to be a gravel road here.

Our babbling stream was turned into a muddy torrent of rushing water.

The drive into Fairbanks was uneventful except for negotiating the frost heaves. Chena Road is a fairly busy road serving lots of residential communities. Our plodding 35MPH speed was not appreciated, I’m sure, but it’s what you have to do in a motorhome on this kind of road.

On the way our MiFi was once again able to connect to the internet so EJ found us a free dump station at Sourdough Fuel on the intersection of Wembly and Danby. It was a strange layout, the second we’ve encountered, where the dump station is one side of the parking lot and the fresh water is located on the other side behind the station building. But it got the job done.

We landed in the Walmart parking lot next to the tire shop where parking spaces marked for four RVs are located. We thought about moving to the Elks Lodge, but by the time we got in gear, they were full and had with road construction all around. We were glad we chose parking on the side ‘cause the front was pretty full.

We once again met up with several Loosey Goosey folks. Friday, our small group had reservations to take a tour on the river boat Discovery.

Looks like everyone got the word about not sitting on the right (starboard) side of the boat. We had heard most of the stuff would be better viewed from the left side.

Our ride begins with a float plane landing right next to us.

The tour took us down the Chena River to where it intersects with the Tanana River.

Along the way we paused at Susan Butcher’s (Iditarod Champion) property, or rather her family's property since Susan passed away, to see some huskies in action.

On our way back up the Chena River we stopped at a replica Athabasca village. There we learned about Athabasca life, furs and how to smoke fish. We were entertained by some cute narrators.

A cabin typical of back woods living. Actually it’s quite a bit fancier than what you would find out in the wilds.

Frank’s opinion of the smoked Chum Salmon used to feed the dogs.

If we remember correctly, they call this the Sunrise hood on a fur jacket. The detail and craftsmanship were incredible.

I think I prefer the modern light weight tents to these. But in a pinch….

 

On the way back, we saw how the other half lives….

The adventure ends and we all depart the paddle boat.

We did check out the local farmer’s market on Saturday morning,

where EJ signed up for a shoulder massage.

We’ve been trying to get a camping spot at the local Elks Lodge for several days now with no luck. But while we were checking it out we spotted this “Hot Shot” which is an old Crosley. These were used as race cars back when racing was still for small garages and back yard mechanics.

We got together with the rest of the group for the Midnight Baseball game. The local team, the Goldpanners vs a team from the “outside” the Monarchs. Outside means not in Alaska.

This has been going on for 109 years. It’s played on the longest day of the year, begins at 10:30PM, and ends around 1 or 2AM. It’s also played without artificial lighting since it’s so bright outside. (I think EJ’s making the “I’ll kill you if you take my picture” sign). We had some showers, but most came prepared. And then the National Anthem and “Play Ball”.

Wait! Is that some of the Loosey Goosey crowd on the other side? There’s an awful lot of orange!

The home team won and everyone was happy. It’s 2AM, it’s still bright outside, and it’s way past our bedtime. But we got to experience the longest day in Alaska.

Tomorrow we hope to snag an empty spot at the Elks Lodge.